Post Tagged with: "History"

Hero (2002). Directed by Zhang Yimou Unity is the theme of Hero, the grand political film directed by Zhang Yimou, who with Steven Spielberg will direct the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games. Unity is also a core theme of Chinese culture and history, and, as this film shows, a central political goal of Chinese rulers for several thousand […]

Catherine PAGANI The Dunhuang Caves include three sites of Buddhist cave shrines located near the desert oasis city of Dunhuang. Decorated with spectacular wall paintings and sculpture, and once the repositories for a treasure trove of Buddhist texts (such as the Diamond Sutra, now in the British Museum), the caves were added to the list of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites […]

Jeffrey L. RICHEY Burning joss sticks (incense) and offering food are traditional practices meant to please gods and ancestors. PHOTO BY JOAN LEBOLD COHEN. Devotees of nearly every religious tradition in China participate in ancestor worship, the rituals in which one commemorates, communicates with, or makes sacrifices to one’s deceased relatives. It is among the oldest and most enduring of […]

WANG Ying Three Kinds of Archaic Graphs and their Transitions to Modern Characters. Top Row: Complex single-element graphs whose modern parallels are direct descendants of archaic forms. Middle Row: Simple multiple-element graphs lacking modern equivalents. Bottom Row: Complex multi-element graphs with either modern descendants or equivalents. COURTESY OF PAUL AND BERNICE NOLL. Initially used by ritual practitioners in prehistoric times […]

Yamin XU Bai Juyi (772–846). This famous poet of the Hanlin Academy was known for his bleak style. Poets, along with alchemists, diviners, shamanists, astrologers, physicians, fortunetellers, were on hand at the academy to serve the Emperor’s needs. Founded as a personalized consulting group for the Tang emperors, Hanlin yuan (??? Hanlin Academy)—a common variant for Hanlin xueshi yuan (Institute […]

TzeHuey CHIOU-PENG Detail of a carved column at Shenyang Palace, former capital of China during the Manchu-ruled Qing dynasty. The Shenyang Imperial Palace, located in the capital city of Liaoning Province, was the imperial residence of the Later-Jin kingdom (1616–1644) prior to their founding of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). Serving as an administrative center for the Manchus, the royal complex’s […]

Jiu-hwa Lo UPSHUR Ancient ink painting of warriors with spears. COURTESY OF JOAN LEBOLD COHEN. Beginning with the Han dynasty, the strength and allegiance of the Chinese army were determining factors in the rise and fall of imperial dynasties. China’s willingness to adopt Western science, technology, and other innovations in the first decade of nineteenth century led to repeated defeats […]

Yamin XU A system developed in ancient China that primarily served as the means by which bureaucratic institutions and government officials were monitored, and which ensured that the growing empire was governed and functioning properly. The Chinese traditional supervisory system could trace its origins back to the times when China created the first bureaucratic governing machine under a monarch. While […]

King-fai TAM Kang Sheng, an official of the CCP, was closely involved in the Cultural Revolution purges during the Yanan Rectification Movement. The Yan’an Rectification Campaign of 1942 established the modus operandi of subsequent ideological campaigns in the history of Chinese Communism. It signified the expansion of the power of the Communist leaders from political and economic realms into other […]